Book Review: The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

“Sometimes the people you loved left you halfway through a story. Sometimes they left you without a goodbye. And, sometimes, they stayed around in little ways. In the memory of a musical. In the smell of their perfume. In the sound of the rain, and the itch for adventure, and the yearning for that liminal space between one airport terminal and the next. I hated her for leaving, and I loved her for staying as long as she could. And I would never wish this pain on anyone.”

Ashley Poston, The Seven Year Slip

Review:

I can see why people really love this book and I so wanted to be one of those people. Alas, it was not a good match for me. 

After the death of her aunt, Clementine is (more or less) living on autopilot. More importantly, she’s trying to keep her aunt’s memory alive by living by her philosophy. One of the biggest rules? Never fall in love… with anyone in her apartment. Clementine has since inherited this apartment, and finally, she starts to understand when she discovers a man seven years in the past living there as well. 

Again, I wanted to love this book. I love the concept, there are some beautiful sentiments scattered throughout the book, it touches on themes of grief… but all of this got lost in often bubbly writing, a shocking amount of cliched prose, and a time warp that is never actually explained. I didn’t find Clementine and Iwan had a lot of chemistry. Their relationship got buried in the incessant conversation about food. I’m gathering from other reviews that this might just be a thing for some people, which is fine, but it didn’t make for a riveting read for me personally.

If this hadn’t been a romance, I feel as though I could have looked past my preferences on writing style and food niche. I would have loved to have read more about Clementine and Analea. I felt this dynamic was the strongest.

Likes & Dislikes:

What I liked:

• How the book discusses grief.

What I didn’t like:

• Clichéd writing.
• Gets sidetracked by food too much (yes, I know there’s a purpose to it).
• The magic in the apartment is never explained.

Afterthoughts:

This was the October group read with The Global Book Nook.

Where to buy the book: